


Good Reception

by LazySundayMusings



Category: Peter Kay's Car Share (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:35:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26211283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazySundayMusings/pseuds/LazySundayMusings
Summary: It’s the day of Donna and Rick’s wedding.Continues two days after the events of “I’m Busy”.
Relationships: Kayleigh Kitson/John Redmond
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. Saturday 28 December, nine-fifty am

Mandy stood at the front door of the small Bury house, watching and waiting while Kayleigh and John said their farewells in the Fiat.  
Mandy’s eyes narrowed as Kayleigh got out of the car, but she held her tongue until the Fiat began to move away with a brief double-beep. Both sisters waved as the car pulled away, Mandy’s wave more casual than Kayleigh’s.

With the Fiat now out of sight, Kayleigh walked up the drive towards the house. “Morning.”  
“Hang on a second,” said Mandy. “Before you go in...”  
“What?”  
Mandy’s eyes flicked downwards. “Did you forget to put a bra on this morning?”  
“Um, not as such...”  
“Well?”  
Kayleigh was grinning. “...can’t find it...”  
Mandy shook her head in mock-judgement, but Kayleigh’s grin was infectious.  
“Yeah, well, don’t forget to put one on now you’re back. That’s a “don’t look” discussion I don’t want to have with Steve. Or Alfie.”  
She noted that Kayleigh’s arm was now across her chest. “You don’t need to right this second. But soon, yeah?”  
Kayleigh poked her head through the door but didn’t go in. “It’s quiet. Where is everybody?”  
“Chloe is over at a friend’s place for the morning. Alfie’s sulking in his room, after I growled at him for trying to sneak out. He said he needed to go toilet, but when I said I’d be listening outside the door he decided he didn’t need to after all.”  
“And...?”  
“Steve got called into work a few hours ago. Something broke somewhere or other. Didn’t really understand what his super was saying when I rang his work after he left.”  
“Why did you ring up? Did... did you think he might not actually be there?”  
“After he slept on the sofa again I just wasn’t sure. But he is. There’s four of them there for another two or three hours at least.”  
“Jesus, Mand...”  
“I know. I spoke to his Mum earlier - they’re going to take both the kids tonight.”  
“Eh? I thought you were visiting tomorrow.”  
“We were, but, after last night I thought the best thing would be to not have the kids around for a day so we could just talk. His folks were happy to have them on short notice. We’ll pick them up tomorrow afternoon or evening. We’ll go out somewhere tonight.”  
“Anywhere special?”  
“Nowhere. I mean, out for dinner, have a drink or two, just some “us” time for a change.” She looked at Kayleigh. “I’m not having a go at you or anything.”  
Kayleigh nodded. “I know.”

Mandy nodded in the direction that the Fiat had gone. “Were you not going to bring John in so Alfie can apologise for giving him the fingers?”  
“He’s not keen. Said he thought it might make things even more awkward than they are.”  
Mandy’s chuckle was almost desperate. “I don’t see how...”

********************

Bury, one-fifteen pm

Steve had returned early from work - “quick overtime is the best overtime” - and though he’d been surprised at Mandy’s announcement that his parents would be looking after the kids overnight, he’d agreed with her suggestion that they have an early lunch before he drove Alfie and Chloe over there, leaving Mandy to help Kayleigh get her mind and outfit sorted for Donna’s wedding.

There’d been a bit of tension before Steve drove off with the kids, but that was quickly settled after Alfie was given a quiet talking-to by Mandy just before they left:  
“You’re already grounded for a month. But if you do anything - ANYTHING - on the way there or while you’re staying with Gran and Gramps, I will double it. And I’ll give your new football away. You understand?”

As they watched the Citroen drive away, Kayleigh briefly considered starting a sisterly-chat about the events of the morning, but in the end decided that avoiding it altogether would be best so they could just focus on getting her ready. Mandy took charge of proceedings - as usual - and it wasn’t long before Kayleigh was nodding in approval at her reflection in the bedroom mirror. Mandy then excused herself while Kayleigh worked out the final touches as she liked to do.

Finally happy with her look, Kayleigh laid out her jacket and bag on the bed then headed downstairs with the intention of making a hot drink, but was distracted by a familiar but unexpected smell. She opened the back door and stepped out to see Misty following Mandy as she paced up and down, dragging hard on a freshly-lit cigarette.  
Kayleigh pointed. “What’s this?”  
“Don’t start. Just don’t, all right? And don’t tell Steve. He doesn’t need to know about this.” She waved the packet in her other hand. “These.”  
“He’ll be able to smell it.”  
“No, no - going to have a shower after this, wash my hair, brush the teeth, mouthwash - the whole bit.”  
“He’ll smell it on your clothes, I mean.”  
“They’re about to go in the wash, aren’t they? The perfect crime.” Mandy took another long drag then held it out to Kayleigh. “Want it?”  
Kayleigh shook her head. “You know I’m not going to.”  
Mandy shrugged. “Your loss.”  
Kayleigh was shaking her head. Having given up smoking almost fifteen years earlier, it wasn’t her loss at all. Besides, she mused, the time for a cigarette would have been that morning after she’d suggested something to John that would help burn off their breakfast - a “something” that had left them slumped in a devastated bed with sheets and covers askew and pillows scattered across the floor.  
Kayleigh could feel herself starting to blush at the memory, but what Misty was sniffing at made her frown again. “What are you doing?”  
Mandy had dropped the butt on the grass by a second that Kayleigh hadn’t spotted before.  
“Don’t just leave them there,” said Kayleigh. “Steve’ll spot them. Or the kids. Lose them over the fence at the spot where Mrs Alders has her first of the day.”  
Kayleigh wasn’t smiling when Mandy came back.  
“Why, Mand? Are you wanting Steve to find out? Do you really want to start that argument again?”  
“No. God no. I do not need that right now. Not on top of everything else.”  
“Then, why?”  
“I felt like it, all right? That’s all. I just...” Her voice trailed off.

Kayleigh waited, not sure what to say, not sure if she should say anything. Then Mandy spoke again.  
“Do you remember how it used to be, K? When things were easy? Nothing’s easy any more. There’s always something.”  
“Well, we’ve all got things going on, but...”  
“No, no. Here’s what I mean. You remember, you remember when it went wrong with you and Dean?”  
Kayleigh folded her arms tightly. “Don’t talk to me about that arsehole.”  
“Well, hey. Ally did you a favour, basically, taking the bastard off your hands. Anyway. You remember how we went to his place to get your gear?”  
“Yeah.”  
“And then you went through his stuff and messed it up? Did the carpet, curtains and the rest of it?”  
“Yeah.”  
“And then we found his bin bags full of weed, and grabbed handfuls of it for ourselves?”  
Kayleigh hesitated. “Yes...?”  
“And spent most of the next weekend smoking it?”  
Kayleigh glanced around then leaned in. “Not really, no.”  
They both giggled.  
“What are you saying, Mand? Do you just want to start up with it again? Is that it?”  
“No, not really. Well, I have had a few this year, but it’s just - I miss the days when I could just not give a shit about anything for a day or two, or more, and it wouldn’t make a difference. Where being completely selfish for a while wouldn’t matter. I mean - what I said before? We were both completely fucked up for a whole weekend and it didn’t matter. That’s the bit I miss - when it didn’t matter what I did or didn’t do.  
Because now it just seems like there’s always something that needs doing, or planning, or worrying about. It never seems to fucking end. There’s no fun any more.”

They both heard the text alert from Kayleigh’s phone. “John’ll be here in a couple of minutes...” She was quiet for a moment, then, “It’s a different type of life you’ve got now, is all. And I know you’ve not felt like this for very long, yeah? It’s just right now with Alfie acting up, and Steve having to be at work as much as he is, plus his being on call right now. Things’ll settle after Christmas. I’m sure of it.”  
Mandy was quiet, then nodded. “Yeah, I suppose.” She paused. “You look great, by the way.”  
“Thanks to you,” replied Kayleigh. “I’m gonna wait out front for John. See you later.”  
“Hang on. I’ll wait with you.”

The sisters stood and waited at the front door, Kayleigh occasionally fussing with her hair, Mandy immediately putting it back the way it had been, all the while looking enviously at Kayleigh’s new earrings. Mandy had to admit that John really had a knack for picking the right jewellery for a woman, which was remarkable considering his own sense of personal style was non-existent.  
Her musing was interrupted by the sounds of Kayleigh clapping her hands together. “He’s here!”

The sisters embraced as the Fiat pulled up to the driveway.  
“Have a good time, yeah?” said Mandy. “Little tip - don’t go showing up the bride today. It’s bad form.”  
“Okay. Hope it goes well tonight.”  
“Yeah. See ya.”

Mandy returned Kayleigh’s wave as the Fiat reversed out of the driveway and started up the road. The car was still in sight as Mandy lit another cigarette. It took her less than a minute to finish it before she flung the butt into the street and went inside.

********************

Abigail’s Church, two-forty pm

John had made sure that they arrived at the church with time to spare, but he’d not anticipated the limited number of parking spaces so had dropped Kayleigh at the church then driven off to find a car park. While he was gone Kayleigh had met up with Gail and Jan from the Produce team who convinced her to sit with them near the front, and since John had asked that it not look like they were there together, Kayleigh hadn’t saved him a seat.

Kayleigh, Gail and Jan sat among plenty of unfamiliar faces on the bride’s side of the church. Almost as many seats were filled on the groom’s side, but the trio only recognised one or two faces from the Warehouse team at work.  
“Extended family?” Jan had offered.  
“Possibly, or maybe Rick’s just more popular outside of work,” replied Gail.

It was soon apparent that most of the attendees were regular church-goers, given their obvious familiarity with the hymns that had been chosen.  
As the ceremony had progressed Kayleigh had been moved by the quality and enthusiasm of the assembled group as they sang in celebration of the occasion and their Christian faith.  
What hadn’t been very Christian was the nature of some of their muttered comments about Donna’s dress that Kayleigh overheard outside the church as the happy couple left in a cloud of bubbles and confetti:  
“Didn’t try very hard, did she?”  
“Is that a hand-me-down?”  
“Clearly a charity-shop special...”

The trio’s disappointment at those comments was tempered by something Gail remembered her grandmother had told her years earlier:  
“A happy bride’s smile is the most beautiful thing she’ll wear on her big day.”  
Donna was clearly a happy bride.

A brief shared glance between Kayleigh and John was their total interaction before he left to get some sleep before starting the overnight shift at the store. Kayleigh joined Gail and Jan in flagging down a taxi and heading to a quiet bar not far from the reception hall.

********************

Haigh Lodge Hall, five-fifteen pm

Not every person at the ceremony had come to the reception, which itself was in two parts with separate invite-lists. This first part - still with limited numbers - was the official occasion with an MC, speeches, dinner and the all-important first dance. The second part was the all-comers party where the less-close friends and invited workmates were all welcome.

In the church, the relative anonymity of the store-trio hadn’t been an issue while the collective focus was on the ceremony itself. But now, in a social setting where the workmates were outnumbered by the family and closest friends of the newlyweds, Kayleigh was starting to feel self-conscious as she became aware of the curious glances coming their way from the others in the venue. She almost regretted wearing the new earrings John had given her, which were attracting attention that ranged from admiring looks to semi-tipsy leering. She definitely regretted having forgotten to borrow one of Mandy’s rings for the evening.  
It was when she spotted a familiar face among the now-arriving extra invitees from the store that Kayleigh had an idea. She made a bee-line for Facilities’ 2IC and took him to one side for a quick word.  
Jason was silent for a few seconds. “You’re kidding, right?”  
“No. Serious.”  
He lowered his voice. “No one is going to believe that you’re here as my date. No one. Everyone at work, well, plenty of them have met Andrea, so no one will think I’ve come here with you.” His eyes widened. “No offense,” he added quickly.  
Kayleigh leaned in. “I’m not asking you to be my date-date. Just be there or thereabouts often enough so I don’t have to put up with attention from guys I don’t know.”  
“Ah. A decoy, in other words.”  
“Please, Jase. Just for a while. Just until they get the idea and don’t bother trying their luck. Please?”  
Jason hesitated, then shrugged. “Um, all right. But you do know I’m having to leave before eight, right?”  
“Oh. No, didn’t know that. But that’s fine. See, sitting next to each other and having an occasional chat like this should be enough,” she said. Then a flicker of a smile. “And I’ll buy you a drink and everything,” she deadpanned.  
Jason couldn’t keep a straight face. “Yeah, good one. It’s a free bar until the reception-proper finishes, when the spirits come out.” He smiled - “Cheap-arse” - then leaned closer and peered at her neck.  
Kayleigh frowned. “Um, what are you doing?”  
“I’m paying attention like a good pretend-date should. These new?” he asked, tapping his own ear.  
“Yep.”  
“Christmas present?”  
“Ahuh. I love them.”  
“Yeah. Well... they look fantastic on you. Really.”  
Kayleigh took his arm. “Thanks, Jase. We should go sit down, but first - let me buy you one of those free drinks we were talking about.”

The invitees from the store were all seated at the same table. Kayleigh kicked off the table-wide round of selfies and toasts, then made a point of putting her handbag on the table between herself and Jason before they briefly leaned against each other and began to point out all the decorations and trimmings around the room.  
All of which had been noted by the acting Assistant Manager who had just walked into the venue. Helen briefly considered raising the subject but was distracted by applause as the newly-married couple arrived, so decided to hold her tongue until after the proceedings were over.  
Which would be quite some time, based on the number of speeches and replies laid out in the plan for the evening. She waved over one of the serving staff and picked two glasses of wine from the offered tray - “one of our guys is running a bit late” - but immediately drained half of one and set the other in front of her, ready for the toasts.  
“Sorted,” she thought.

One of the groomsmen took the microphone and began proceedings. “Good evening, everyone...”

As the MC began to speak, Kayleigh’s mind started to drift back over the previous few hours.  
Yes. It was a small church. The reception hall wasn’t the biggest. The invite-lists weren’t big. The free bar was beer and wine and the disco was being set up by a mate of some guy Rick knew from his League club. Plenty of comments - most of them discrete - had been made about the timing of the wedding, the small numbers of invitees and the push for cash instead of presents, but in the end they’d had the church-wedding to keep the families happy, and they’d probably come out of it without a hefty pile of bills.  
And Donna had been up-front about wanting to be married more than wanting a big wedding, so...

Which made perfect sense to Kayleigh. Although it obviously wasn’t the kind of wedding that she would have organised.

A burst of laughter brought her back to the moment. She joined in - purely by reflex, having not actually been listening - then took a quick look at her workmates around the table.  
What she couldn’t fathom was why Helen had looked strangely at her and Jase as the store-crowd had found their places at the table. Unless... oh. Did she know? John did say a couple of people at the store other than Roisin knew about them, so was Helen one of them?  
Hmmm...

Never mind that now. The free wine was decent enough, there was a free meal coming up and she had a couple of pounds in the work-pool to guess what song would be the first dance.  
“Easy money,” she thought. “This should be good.”


	2. Haigh Lodge Hall, six pm

Despite the long list of speeches laid out in the plan, the evening hadn’t dragged at all. And the highlight - the standout - had been Rick himself, who had been surprisingly eloquent during his speech with his praise of Donna’s father and his tribute to her mother. The work-mates had sat open-mouthed, each of them trying - and failing - to reconcile the self-assured man at the head table with the “Rick” they knew from the Warehouse team.

As the applause rang out Jason leaned forward, gesturing the others in as he did:  
“Someone’s had a quiet word with him, I reckon.”  
The group nodded their agreement.

But Rick hadn’t finished. At the completion of the final speech, he briefly excused himself and went through to the kitchen - emerging shortly afterwards pushing a trolley from which he served the main meal to his father-in-law, his parents and his new wife.  
Kayleigh watched all this with admiration. And some confusion.  
Who was this man?  
He was nothing like the Rick who’d helped himself to big handfuls of her backside during their drunken snog at the store’s fancy dress party the previous year...

********************

Haigh Lodge Hall, six-fifty pm

The guests were a mixed bunch, ranging from the young to the old, including some family groups. Rick and Donna knew that not all of the guests could stay for the entire evening so they made a point of having the cake-cutting ceremony between the main meal and dessert. This had raised a few eyebrows, but it meant that the couple were able to hand small portions of cake to the early-leavers as they personally thanked them for being part of their big day.  
It was a thoughtful touch. Just one of many.

And something that Helen was having particular trouble getting her head around, having recently been party to a few management-level discussions about Rick’s performance and attitude problems.  
Who was this man?  
Wouldn’t he be more laddish here, surrounded by his family and friends, than he was at work? Could it just be an act, put on for the sake of appearances for his big day? Surely they’d see through that, though. Or was it for the benefit of the attendees from the church? Which would be ironic, given her first-hand experience of just how intolerant churchgoers could be when they got themselves into a particular mindset. Or, maybe it...  
“Oh, screw it,” she thought. “Just have more wine.”

The previous fifteen minutes had seen the last guests finishing their meals and the serving staff quickly clearing the tables and making more space near the edge of the dance floor. With that done, the front doors were opened and the first of the attendees for the all-comers party were let into the venue, including the last dozen invitees from the store who joined Kayleigh and the others at their double-table.  
At a signal from Rick, the MC picked up the microphone and began his final announcement of the evening:  
“Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s that time.”  
He gestured to Rick and Donna.  
“Sir, Madam - the dance floor is yours.”

Donna took Rick’s arm and they moved to the dance floor, accompanied by applause from everyone in the venue. They stood a few feet apart, facing each other with matching smiles.  
With seemingly-everyone in the venue holding up their phones to record proceedings, Rick nodded to the DJ.

The work-mates smiled in unison when the first of the familiar rapid-fire notes came through the P.A., followed by the lyrics they’d all been expecting:  
“We clawed, we chained our hearts in vain  
We jumped, never asking why...”

At which point the music was suddenly cut off, followed by a deep chuckle from the DJ:  
“Only joking, folks.”

The P.A. then came alive with the distinctive crackle of old vinyl on a turntable. First the double-bass, then guitar and piano broke through the crackle, and as Rick and Donna began to dance the velvety voice of Roberta Flack began to serenade them:  
“The first time, ever I saw your face...  
I thought the sun rose in your eyes  
And the moon and stars  
Were the gifts you gave...”

The assembled crowd stood silently for the next four minutes, simply watching, some exchanging glances and knowing nods as the newlyweds slowly swayed to the music.

When the song ended there was more applause as the couple left the floor and walked over to the head table where Donna hugged her father. Behind them the dance floor started to fill as up-beat music began to come through the P.A.

None of the work-mates had moved since the song ended. They were just looking at each other in wonder. Jason summed up their thoughts:  
“What just happened?”

Roisin soon had the answer. “Just been talking to the boss,” she said, waggling her phone.  
“Um, why?” asked Jan.  
“He asked me to call him when the first dance started, so he could listen. Since he’s not here himself, right? Anyway. That song. That exact version? That was Donna’s mum’s favourite song.”

The work-mates were quiet, then nodded and let out a collective “Ohhh...”

********************

Haigh Lodge hall, eight-twenty pm

As expected, the reception had switched to full party-mode once the last of the family groups and older churchgoers had left.  
Kayleigh had spent some time dancing with Jason - she’d forgotten how good a dancer he was - before she and Jan found and swapped different dance partners for the next few songs. This had gone on for about forty minutes, and resulted in Kayleigh having more dance partners than at any function that she could recall. She’d even managed to dance briefly with Craig, but once the DJ announced that he had a short set of slower songs lined up “for the lovers out there” Craig had been unceremoniously dragged away by Karen from the Customer Care team.

And it was then - with her pretend-date having already left - that Kayleigh realised that she had run out of potential “just dancing” partners, what with the majority of the store-invitees being women and the majority of the non-coupled men seemingly content to spend increasing amounts of time at the bar.  
So she got another large glass of wine and set herself up at a side-table with an unobstructed view of the dance floor, taking photos, sending texts and occasionally holding her phone to her ear to give any male passers-by the impression that she had things going on.

“You writing a book over here?”  
Kayleigh looked up. “Hm?”  
“Lots of texting, I see,” said Helen.  
“Oh. Yeah. Elsie,” said Kayleigh, wiggling her phone.  
“I was meaning to ask about that, her not being here. Didn’t they clear things up between them? Elsie and Donna, I mean.”  
“They did. But with the invite-numbers being limited, Elsie was only going to get to come to this bit, and now she’s got the cane she wouldn’t be dancing or anything. She didn’t see the point in coming all this way just for a couple of drinks.”  
“Oh. Yeah, I suppose. Pity...”

Neither spoke for a moment, each picturing how the evening might have turned out with a fully-fit Elsie in full-flight. Then Helen walked around the table and sat in the chair next to Kayleigh, looking around but saying nothing.  
Kayleigh was about to break the silence just as Helen leaned in and spoke. “I love your new earrings.” She lowered her voice. “From John, yes?”  
Kayleigh shot Helen a curious look.  
“He picks really nice jewellery. And those are perfect for you.”  
Kayleigh couldn’t hide her smile.  
“So tell me. If John is buying you jewellery now, how exactly is it that you and Jason were looking all cosy earlier?”  
“Some guys were giving me looks that I didn’t want. Jase said he’d play the part for a while to put them off.”  
“Ah.” Helen wiggled her fingers. “Wouldn’t it have been easier to just wear a ring for the night?”  
“Yeah, but I forgot, didn’t I?” Kayleigh paused. “How’d you know these are from John?”  
“Because you two are together.”  
“Well, yeah - but, how do you know? Did he say something?”  
“No. It came out at work, but it wasn’t him. Let’s just say - it was said in the heat of the moment, there weren’t many people in the room at the time, and everyone knows to keep quiet about it.”  
“So who said it?”  
“Not important.”  
“I think it is.”  
“Hey - it doesn’t matter who said it. Just know that it’s not gone any further.”  
Kayleigh paused, then simply said “Huh.”  
“What?”  
“You sound a lot like John when you talk that that.”  
“I’m taking that as a compliment. Because, the way he does and says things? We’ve all been taking note because it works really well. And he’s so generous with his knowledge. He’s really good.”

“Who’s good? Who are you talking about?” The music had drowned out part of their conversation and the sound of Jan’s approaching footsteps.  
Helen’s eyes flicked up. “We were talking about Redmond having only stuck around for the ceremony.”  
“Oh, yeah. I was wondering about that myself. Seems odd, given that Donna’s so fond of him. After her Mum and everything, I mean.”  
“It’s because he’s running the overnight shift at the store,” replied Helen. “This’ll be his fourth time this week.”  
“His - how many?”  
“His fourth time. The duty manager is off-roster for another week on doctor’s orders. Tonight was the only night where the boss couldn’t find a replacement so he’s doing it himself.”  
“Oh! Oh, that’s no good, today of all days. Um, couldn’t one of you guys have done it instead of him?”  
“No. We’re not allowed to. Not yet, anyway. We’d need to do it a few times alongside an established manager or duty manager before they’d let us go solo. Which we’ve not done, and since we don’t know what Thompson’s gonna do once he gets back, I don’t know if we’ll actually get to do it or not.”  
“Really? You don’t know what he’s planning?”  
“Not a clue.”  
“How can you not know?”  
“Because he doesn’t tell people things. Had you forgotten? He’s only been gone two months. We’ve been a bit spoilt with Redmond being in charge, treating us like adults.”  
“Yeah, I suppose...”

As Jan wandered towards the bar, Kayleigh glared at Helen. “Why did you call him “Redmond”? He does have a name, you know.”  
“Have you ever referred to him by his first name with your work-mates? Even since you’ve been car-sharing?”  
“Well, no.”  
“There you go.” She noticed Kayleigh’s expression freeze before she brought her hand up to her face. “Something wrong?”  
“Oh, no...”  
“What?”  
“There’s a guy over there.”  
“...So?”  
“So I went on part of a date with him.”  
“You did what?”  
“I met him for lunch but then bailed part-way through. Without telling him. And have avoided him since. It was dating-site thing.”  
“Jesus. You didn’t bail and leave him with the bill, did you?”  
“No. We were still thinking about what to order, and I was stalling because he wasn’t what I’d expected, and then I... lied about needing to go to the Ladies’. And just left.”  
Helen was silent but her expression made it perfectly clear what she was thinking.  
“And I don’t want him to see me here. What am I going to do?”  
“Well, um, you could just leave.”  
“I can’t leave. It’s too early to leave.”  
“Well, you’re a bit fucked, then, aren’t you?” Helen thought a moment, then got to her feet. “Got an idea. Come on. Bring your drink and jacket.”  
“Where are we going?”  
“Outside.”  
“But...”  
“There’s a separate area for women off to the side. It’s either that or you hide in the bogs for an hour. Or just sneak off,” - a disapproving look - “again.”  
Kayleigh made a face.  
“Or you could actually talk to him.”  
“No. I can’t do that. Not after what happened.”  
Kayleigh stood and made a point of moving to Helen’s left side before tilting her face away.  
“So which one is he?”  
Kayleigh pointed discretely. “Second table over, tall-ish, dark curly hair.”  
Helen glanced across. “Him? Really? He looks all right to me. Why did you bail on him then?”  
“He’s not Japanese.”  
Helen frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense. How much have you had to drink tonight?”  
“Not enough to face him.”

The pair emerged from the side entrance and turned left, moving along the wall to the tables marked “Ladies only”. Kayleigh’s concern about the temperature was alleviated by the sight of the patio-type heaters between the tables.  
Pamela waved them over. “Hey. Didn’t expect to see you two out here.”  
“It’s a bit too hot inside at the moment,” replied Helen as they sat down. “And the music is a touch loud. It’s good, though - just too loud right now.”  
Kayleigh jabbed her thumb at the heater behind her. “Hey, these are good, aren’t they? Being right here?”  
“Yeah - one of the staff turned them up just before,” replied Pamela. “But what they really need is to have an outside-serving window for the bar.” She reached to her left. “Just there at arms’ length would be perfect. For me, anyway. Don’t know about you lot.”  
There was a brief rustling noise. Kayleigh caught a flash of light from the corner of her eye and she joined the others in looking surprised as Helen snapped the lighter shut and dropped it back in her pocket.  
Kayleigh was pointing. “Since when do you smoke?”  
Helen contemplated the slim cigar in her fingers. “Ages. But only these. I mean, I don’t all that often, and never around home because Billy hates it, but she’ll look the other way for a special occasion.”  
Realising she now had an audience, Helen inhaled deeply and held it, then tilted her face up and slowly blew a long stream of smoke into the air above her - an act that made even the hardened smokers around the table wince.  
“And this one’s all right,” she continued, “but I prefer longer ones with real heft to them, something that takes about an hour to work through. That’s my idea of a great night, actually - plenty of cognac or brandy with a big fat cigar.”  
She continued her performance by taking a shallow draw and flicking her tongue through the smoke in her mouth before again sending it skywards.  
“But not when guys are around. They tend to get ideas.”  
Suze piped up. “Is that the “what else will she put in her mouth?” business?”  
Helen grinned. “That’s it.” She then parted her lips and and double-jabbed her tongue against inside of her cheek, sparking giggling from the group along with a few curious looks.  
She shrugged. “Hey, I’ve had boyfriends before. I know how they think.”

There was something about Helen’s relaxed attitude that convinced Pamela that this might be a good time to have a specific conversation. And there was just enough alcohol in her system to prompt her to start it. “Helen, can I ask you something? It’s, um, a bit awkward, but it’s something I’ve been curious about for a while now.”  
Helen made a face. “Is this the “what do girls do in bed?” thing? Just... jump on the Internet if you want to see that.”  
Pamela was unmoved. “I don’t care about that. I’ve DONE that.” She waved away the surprised looks. “No, it’s about you and the boss. Redmond.” She leaned forward. “What’s it like?”  
Helen did a double-take. “What’s WHAT like?”  
“What’s it like being his favourite?”  
Helen was taken aback. “...I’m not his favourite.”  
“Sure you are.”  
“No. No I’m not.”  
“Yes you are. Well, look. You’re gay.”  
“Yes. So?”  
“So there’s no point him trying to get into your knickers, right?”  
Helen bristled. “What exactly are you saying?”  
“That you’re off the menu but still get lots of opportunities, is what I’m saying.”  
“I don’t. Well... some, but I’m not the only one.”  
“That’s how it comes across.”  
“What does?”  
“All right. You seem to be his first-pick for a bunch of things. Um, like, before all of this, when he had to be somewhere else for a couple of hours, you tended to get the call to fill in for him.”  
“When I would basically answer the phone, check his emails and do some admin-shit. Big deal.”  
“And yet, you’re now acting as the Assistant Manager. Seemingly out of nowhere.”  
“Yeah. Me and the two guys. At the same time.”  
The sniggering around the table caught Helen unawares, but when she realised what she’d said she smiled and shook her head - “not like that,” - before chuckling herself.  
“All right,” continued a smiling Pamela, “but didn’t you fill in for the duty manager a couple of weekends ago?”  
“Yeah, so? That was Redmond asking if I wanted to pick up a few hours of overtime on a Saturday. Nothing more.”  
She scanned the faces around the table. “I’m not his favourite, all right? In my last Appraisal - no, the one before that - he asked if there was anything different I’d like to do in my job. Before then I’d not been interested, but that time I asked if I could take on a couple of extra responsibilities, learn some new stuff. That’s all. But it wasn’t as often as it might look, and it wasn’t instead of doing my actual job.” She turned to Kayleigh. “And I was still doing a good-enough job as Section Head, right?”  
“Oh, yeah,” nodded Kayleigh enthusiastically.

Helen turned back to Pamela. “And, actually, on Redmond playing favourites, I could say the same about you. More so, really.”  
“Me?”  
“Not you-you. HR. All of you,” she said pointing at Pamela and Barbara.  
Pamela held up her hands. “Well, hang on. It’s completely different. He’s not our boss. We work for Area, so he has to work with us so everything goes smoothly.”  
“He has to work with us as well,” said Kayleigh.  
“Not the same thing,” piped up Barbara. “He’s your manager so always has the option of just telling you what to do. Not with HR. He has to ask and follow our procedures. And if we say No he has to accept it.”  
“Obviously,” said Helen, “but there’s not many stores where Ops and HR work as closely as in our place. In most stores the groups work together only when they can’t avoid it.”  
“And then you have stores like Leigh,” added Pamela.  
“What about Leigh?” asked Suze.  
“The Store Manager and HR-Head never got along,” said Pamela. “In the end they had a screaming match in the cafeteria during the lunch break. Store Security had to separate them. They were both stood-down for a week.”  
“Exactly,” said Helen. “There’s either politeness or open hostility. Except in our place, where it seems he’s happier to spend time with HR than with his actual staff.”  
Pamela shook her head. “You’re reading too much into it. Look. It’s because we’ve worked with Redmond for years now and just get along. And not just because it makes sense to.”  
“Unlike Thompson.”  
Pamela made a face. “Unlike Thompson. Although, the few times he’s had to talk to us he’s always gone straight to the Head. Cath or Roisin. Never lower.”  
“Why’d you say “lower”?”  
“His words.” Pamela lit another cigarette. “This must have been like a holiday for you, what with him being away?”  
“Um, a working holiday, maybe. There’s no way I’d have got to do most of that stuff otherwise.”  
“Shame it took Alison Thompson ending up in hospital for any of it to happen.”  
“True...”

The group slowly dispersed over the next twenty minutes, with just Helen and Pamela content to sit outside in the slowly-cooling air. It wasn’t until they could feel the first few drops of the forecast rain that they reluctantly got to their feet.  
Helen took a long, final drag then left the cigar in the ashtray. “I’ve been meaning to ask - how’s Roisin been lately, having waited all that time for Cath to leave the store but then missing out?”  
Helen looked confused. “She’s not missed out. She got Cath’s job.”  
“Not what I meant.” Helen looked around. “Cath’s no longer around as a constant distraction for Redmond, but he’s ended up going out with Kayleigh instead of her. And he’s leaving for good soon.”

“Ah. Let’s just say Ro’s putting on a brave face.”

********************

Kayleigh had been one of the first of the group to head back inside. It had been a simple choice; either go back inside for warmth but put up with the too-loud music and possibly endure an awkward encounter with “Jap Si” - or stay outside and put up with increasingly-sore eyes from all the smoke drifting around. Particularly from Helen’s cigar. Lord alone knew how she could stand it. “Must have lungs of iron,” she’d mused.

She’d headed to the Ladies’ with the plan to give herself a makeshift eye-bath, but once at the mirror the thought of having ruined makeup for the rest of the evening left her cold so decided to just dab a drop of water into the corner of each eye. As she washed her hands she realised her hair and clothes now smelled strongly of smoke - a smell she’d come to hate.  
And so it was an annoyed Kayleigh that turned left out of the Ladies’ and bumped into a certain tall-ish man with dark curly hair.

She could barely look him in the face. “I’m so sorry. Wasn’t paying attention. Are you all right?”  
His eyes showed no hint of recognition, his response slightly slurred. “I’m fine, I’m fine. And it was more my fault really, for not having my glasses with me. Um, are you all right?”  
“I am. Yeah. I’m good, I’m good.”  
“Okay. Well, um, anyway. Have a good night.”

As she watched him walk unsteadily back to his table Kayleigh’s mind was racing. “What the hell? He doesn’t bloody recognise me! I was sat outside in the cold, for ages, for nothing!”  
But her annoyance was brief. With just thirty minutes left before the reception was due to finish she decided to make the best of it so got another large glass of wine and headed to the far table where she saw that Suze and Jan had made themselves comfortable.

Behind her, “Jap Si” had a moment of clarity. But even as he turned around his mind was again fogging over and he was left looking about for the woman he thought he should have recognised. His confused search was interrupted by a table-mate:  
“Gordo! What you looking at?”  
“Um - I, um, nothing. Nothing.”  
He turned back to his drink.

********************

Bury, eleven-twenty pm

Kayleigh stirred.  
“What was that?”

She opened her semi-drunken eyes but couldn’t make out anything in the complete darkness so closed them again.  
“Was that a yelp? What would be...? Oh. Misty having a dream, maybe? She hasn’t done that for ages.”

Her mind cleared briefly.  
“If she's doing that I need to stop her before she gets all wound up or she’ll wake up the house. Don’t need that, not with the tension in this place already.”

She struggled to sit up, then gave up.  
“Shit it’s cold. Maybe I don’t need-”

Another noise, the same as the first.  
“Crap. Yeah, that’s her.”

Kayleigh sighed then forced herself to sit up, turning on the bedside light as she did so. She pulled her dressing gown around her shoulders - the dressing gown that was exactly like John’s, bar the size - and stumbled out of bed. Slippers on, she walked slowly out of her room and, after noting that Mandy and Steve’s bedroom door was closed - “didn’t hear them come in” - made her way to the top of the stairs.  
From where she could see a faint glow coming from below. And a noise she couldn’t quite place.  
She started slowly down, one step at a time, being careful where she put her feet.

Halfway down, now. A definite glow. And then a male voice, urgently muttering something she couldn’t make out.  
Her blood ran cold.  
Burglars?!  
No. No. Misty would be going mental if any strangers were on “her” patch.  
So, who then?

Another step, then another. And another. She could clearly see the glow was coming from around the almost-closed door to Alfie’s bedroom. The noise grew grew louder with each step, became more rhythmic with each passing second.  
A rhythm that began to speed up.  
Kayleigh’s eyes widened.  
Oh, no. Not that...

The stair creaked loudly as she shifted her weight. She froze in place.  
Shit. Shit. Shit!

The rhythmic noise stopped but Mandy’s voice cut in immediately with an almost-wail. “Don’t stop, don’t stop...”  
More silence. Then the noise resumed, slowly at first then more quickly, but this time accompanied by a constant stream of filth from Mandy’s lips, telling her husband in no uncertain terms what she wanted and that he had to “do it harder, you bastard...”

Her voice became unintelligible, lost in a mix of gasps and groans that were themselves lost in the creaks and groans of the bed itself as Steve proceeded to do exactly that.

Kayleigh stood still, knowing she could now go straight back to bed and wouldn’t need to be quiet when she did it.  
But she didn’t turn around and go upstairs. The remaining alcohol in her system gave her a nudge and she carefully crept down the last few stairs and moved slowly towards Alfie’s bedroom door, bringing her face close to the slight gap between the door and doorframe.

One quick peek. They’d never know...


	3. Bury, Sunday 29 December, seven-ten am

Kayleigh stirred.  
“What was that?”

She opened her dry, itchy eyes but with nothing to see just closed them again.  
“Was that a door? Front door, maybe?  
Um, dunno. I’ll check it in a minute.”

Her mind began to drift...

********************

Rochdale, seven-ten am

Gordon Simmons had already taken two Nurofen but could tell he’d need at least two more. To put off the inevitable he’d gone into the spare room and half-closed the blinds to dim the light. And then, to avoid thinking about the just-bearable pain behind his eyes, he started to think about the previous night, about that girl he’d literally bumped into at the wedding.

The music had been loud, but there was something familiar about her voice.  
Who was she? Where had he seen her before? Had he seen her before?

Wait.

He reached for his phone and tapped the blue and yellow “HS” icon. The “Welcome to HeartSearchers.com” splash screen was quickly dismissed and Gordon went straight to his contacts-history, fast-flicked his way down the list, looking intently at the faces until...  
Was that her?  
He took off his glasses, looked, squinted then looked again.  
It was her! Sure of it!

He thought for a second then typed in “Hey - was that you at Rick’s wedding yesterday?”

The response came quickly:  
“User profile WHAMMER76 not found”

Gordon frowned.  
“Dammit.”

********************

Bury, seven-thirty am

Kayleigh was jolted awake by her own snoring. “Dammit.”

She struggled to sit up, yawning as she did. “What was I…? Oh, yes. Noise. Door?”

With robe and slippers on, she walked slowly out of her room and, after noting that Mandy and Steve’s bedroom door was slightly open - “someone’s up” - went into the bathroom where the air was slightly warm and damp. The towel dumped on top of the washing basket told the story. “Steve’s up and showered.” But what had she heard?

She made her way down the stairs - paying much more attention to where she put her feet - and after a casual glance at the now-closed door to Alfie’s bedroom went through to the kitchen. On the bench was a note in Steve’s handwriting - “Misty’s been fed and let out” - next to the kettle that was still quite hot to the touch.  
And Steve’s motorbike boots were gone. Mystery solved.

Kayleigh made herself a mug of sweet hot tea, grabbed a saucer-load of biscuits and went through to the lounge, keen to relax in a soft chair.  
And as she did, she spotted something poking out from under the sofa.

********************

Bury, seven-fifty am

More noises, this time from across the hall. Kayleigh could make out the sound of a door being slowly opened then the distinctive noise of someone creeping up the stairs. There was a pause, then running water, then someone walking purposefully down the stairs. Another brief door noise, before Mandy came through into the lounge.

“Morning.”  
“Morning.”

Mandy stopped next to Kayleigh, sniffed and screwed up her face. “God, you stink.”  
“Oh! Thanks for nothing.”  
“Seriously. You reek.” Another sniff. “Have you been smoking?”  
Kayleigh looked indignant. “No.”  
“Just as well, after giving me grief for it yesterday. So, how?”  
“I was outside in the smokers’ area for a while.”  
“You what? Why?”  
One short explanation later...  
“Ah. And after all that he didn’t recognise you?”  
“No. Half-pissed and didn’t have his glasses on, did he? And now I smell like... this. And my eyes are still sore.”

Mandy patted Kayleigh’s shoulder in sympathy, picked up her empty mug and gave it the “Again?” waggle to which Kayleigh simply grunted.

When Mandy returned she handed Kayleigh her refilled mug - “thank you” - and moved to the next chair. Kayleigh smiled behind her mug as she watched Mandy sit very carefully, despite it being the most comfortable chair in the room.  
Mandy reached across for the last biscuit on the saucer and toasted Kayleigh with her mug. “So, then. Forgetting your current... state, how was it all?”  
“Lovely,” - Kayleigh talked her through the day - “but I missed John, though. Any other time I’d have been happy to go solo, but it just wasn’t the same yesterday. And a shame for him too, not being able to stay for the whole thing.”  
“So what was he doing instead?”  
“I told you - he took the overnight shift again, what with Mr McIvor being off on doctor’s orders.”  
“Again? How many nights is that now?”  
“Four this week.”  
“But not tonight?”  
“No. It’s back to the normal manager-roster. I’m going over later.”  
“You’re going for the night, then?” asked Mandy, sounding more eager than she’d intended.  
“Yep,” replied Kayleigh with a straight face.

Kayleigh noted that Mandy was looking for something on the floor but bit her lip rather than smile and give the game away. Instead she just tapped the arm of Mandy’s chair.  
“How about you? How did yesterday go? Find somewhere nice for dinner and whatever?”  
Mandy was quiet for a moment.  
“It went okay. In the end.” She paused. “We’re going to tell the kids about Sean. All of it. Most of it, anyway.”  
“Really?”  
“Yep. But we’re gonna get professional help this time. Not just tell them ourselves and hope it goes well.”  
“Wow. So what prompted that?”  
“Alfie, basically. How he’s been acting since we told them the first bit.” Her tone gave away the guilt she was now feeling about her tolerance of Alfie’s behaviour. “It was actually “your mother” who suggested that we tell them the whole story.”  
“Really? What exactly did “your mother” say?”  
“That they might appreciate what they have if they knew how things ended up like this.”  
“And by “they” you mean Alfie?”  
“Yeah.”  
“But surely you won’t tell them everything.”  
“No. Something along the lines of him not wanting to be part of a family, for reasons we never really found out about. Something like that, anyway. Enough so they don’t get the idea that they could go looking for him.”

“Didn’t you once think about just telling them that he’d died when they were little?”  
“Nice idea, but it’d be a bit awkward if he suddenly turned up one day. Not that he ever would, but - you know. Plus I’d have to actually kill him then to keep the story going. But he might really be dead, for all we know. It would be easier.”  
Kayleigh realised she was nodding, even as she tried not to stare at the fingers on Mandy’s hand that had never healed properly. “You know, I hated Sean for what he did to you. But I never imagined I’d be agreeing that him being dead would be for the best.”  
“He hasn’t done a single thing for his children since he left, so he might as well be dead.”

Kayleigh hadn’t stopped nodding. “So when do you think you’ll tell them?”  
“After Alfie’s month of being grounded is up. Steve insisted that Alfie “does the time” first, plus it gives us the time to find someone to help us work out exactly what to tell them and how. And Alfie still has to apologise to John for doing the fingers to him that time.”  
“John thinks that his being here will just make things more awkward.”  
Mandy was blunt. “Too bad.”  
Kayleigh looked surprised.  
“Alfie needs to apologise. Properly. And soon. And you did tell him he had to apologise so you can’t now be the one letting him off doing it.”  
Kayleigh looked unconvinced.  
“It doesn’t have to be a big deal, but it can’t be a two-second thing either. Did you say you were back on work on Thursday?”  
“Yep.”  
“Right. Have him come by after work on Thursday, just for a half-hour or so. We won’t make a big deal of it, we’ll just make it happen, and then it’s done. Cool?”  
“Okay.”

The sisters spent another twenty minutes in idle chatter, during which Kayleigh took her turn as tea lady. When Mandy finished her drink she got up. “Well, that was lovely but I’m ready for a shower. Best I go first, since you’ll need hours to wash that stink out of your hair.”  
Kayleigh made a face as she watched Mandy look around the legs of the chairs and sofa, her hands on her hips. Then she piped up. “They’re in the washing machine.”  
“What are?”  
She smirked. “Your knickers. You’d left them by the sofa.” A pause. “Tart.”

Mandy winced and looked away briefly, before turning to face Kayleigh. “Just so you know - I don’t usually do the dirty-talk thing, but I didn’t want Steve to be distracted by you coming down the stairs. When you stood on that really noisy step not far from the bottom, I mean.”  
Kayleigh’s smirk disappeared as she shifted awkwardly in the chair. “Hey. Something woke me up, didn’t know what it was. Had to check, didn’t I?”  
“Fair enough.” Mandy waited a moment then tilted her head. “You didn’t watch, did you?”  
“Huh? N-no,” Kayleigh stammered, even as her cheeks began to burn with embarrassment.  
Mandy didn’t labour the point, didn’t need to. She simply nodded, said “Okay. Shower,” and started up the stairs, deliberately making the suspect-stair creak loudly on her way up.

Behind her Kayleigh had her face in her hands. “Oh, no...”

Mandy smiled to herself as she pulled the bathroom door closed and turned on the shower. “Trust her...”  
A smile that didn’t fade when she used the mirror to take another look at the just-visible pink splotches on her backside. Clearly Kayleigh hadn’t watched them for very long, or she might have felt compelled to comment about the way they’d gone at it during their second go-round in Alfie’s bed, adding to what they’d done after she’d semi-drunkenly dared him to spank her when they’d gotten back from their “date night” at the pub. A “date night” that nearly hadn’t happened.

When Steve had returned from dropping off the kids the previous afternoon, Mandy made drinks for both of them then sat beside him at the table and began to talk.  
“Mum thinks we should tell the kids about Sean. All of it. But-”  
“I agree,” Steve interrupted. “Let’s do that tomorrow when we pick them up from my Mum’s.”  
“No.”  
“What do you mean, “No”?”  
“I can’t.”  
“Why not?”  
“I don’t want them to know.”  
“Why not? They deserve to know what a bastard he was to you. To all of you.”  
“I can’t tell them all of it.”  
Steve took her hand and turned it over, his gaze moving from her eyes to the two mis-shapen fingers and back to her face. “How can you defend him after what he did?”  
“I’m not defending him. I just don’t want to tell them all of it. They’re still little. I don’t want to scare them.”  
Steve scratched his chin. “Then don’t. Just...” He was shaking his head. “Tell them, um, tell them that their real father decided that he didn’t want to be in a family any more. Something like that. That way it’s still all on him.”

Mandy didn’t speak for nearly a minute while she considered his words. When she was done she got up and sat on his lap with her arms around his neck, quietly repeating “Thank you.”

Steve had his arms around Mandy but wasn’t holding her tight. “I know a way you can thank me.”  
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yes. What’s that exactly?”  
His voice was even. “You can back me up for a change.”  
Her voice wavered. “I do.”  
“No you don’ t. You do the complete opposite every time you let Alfie get away with whatever.” He gave Mandy a gentle nudge, and she got off his lap and back on her chair. “You’re prepared to protect Sean’s reputation with his children after all this time, despite...”  
His voice trailed off as he stood up. “If you can do that for him, you can show me some respect now.”  
“Where are you going?”  
“To let Misty in from out of the rain. Can you not hear it?”  
“I wasn’t really paying attention to the weather,” she replied but Steve was already half-way to the door.

It was the first of a few exchanges between them that afternoon that weren’t fun but were necessary to start clearing the air.  
Air which was still slightly murky when they walked to the pub that evening for their first “just-us” date in months, one in which they’d agreed to forget their problems for a few hours. One they both enjoyed.

It was the alcohol in her system that had dared Steve to spank her when they’d got home.  
It was the still-bubbling resentment in him that made him do it, yanking down her jeans and putting her across his knee to deliver a series of smacks that were initially more noise than substance. Until he admonished her for smoking - “Did you really think I wouldn’t notice?” - by delivering several slaps straight to the back of her legs with enough force to make her yelp.  
His apologies had been genuine as he’d rubbed the feeling back into her legs then helped her sit upright on his lap, her jeans still around her ankles, his hand on her thigh. But after sitting quietly for a minute with no movement by Mandy and no invitation to make a move himself, Steve gave up waiting. “You should go up to bed.”  
“No.”  
“No?”  
Mandy took his hand and moved it between her legs. “No.”  
And after two weeks in which they’d said little more to each other than the bare minimum that was needed, words were suddenly unnecessary.

Neither of them spoke again until Steve was in the process of lowering Mandy to the floor, at which point she’d whispered “Oh... No. Not here. I’ll freeze my arse off.”  
“Then come with me.”  
He scooped up her jeans then began walking her backwards through the lounge and past the foot of the stairs. Mandy stopped when she realised they were outside Alfie’s bedroom.  
“Why are we-”  
Steve threw her jeans through the open doorway with one hand and tightened his grip on her bottom with the other, drawing out another yelp. “Just get in there.”

Mandy was still smiling as she finished her shower.  
The old adage “don’t go to bed angry if you can help it” was a good one. Had served her well.  
Going to bed and having angry sex, however...

********************

Mandy waited until Kayleigh was in the shower before she made a quick phone call. That done, she called Steve.

“Hey.”  
“Hi. What’s up?”  
“Just been on the phone to your Mum.”  
“Why? Is everything all right?”  
“Everything’s fine, everything’s fine. They’re happy to have the kids tonight as well.”  
“Um, okay...”  
“And Kayleigh’s going to be staying with John tonight.”  
“So?”  
“So we’re on our own again tonight. From the middle of the afternoon, really.”  
Steve was quiet for a moment. “Have you made his bed yet?”  
“Um, no.”  
“Good. Don’t.”  
“Why not?”  
“Because we’re not done with it.”

********************

Two-fifteen pm, Bury

“I miss you. How soon can I come over?” asked Kayleigh as soon as John answered his phone.  
John had to speak up to make himself heard. “I’m not at home, though. Not at Cath’s, I mean.”  
“Where are you then?”  
“I’m at the studio with everyone. Jim called earlier, woke me up and all. Said they wanted a bit of a hit-out and was I interested? I was like - hell, yes.”  
“Oh, okay. How long will you be, do you think?”  
“Really don’t know. About four hours at least, but Jim has said that when things click they tend to be at it until eight or nine o’clock.”  
“Nine o’clock?! But I was going to stay over, remember?”  
“Yeah. I still want you to.”  
“But if you’re there that late I’ll basically not get to yours until nearer ten o’clock. Just in time to go to bed so you can up early tomorrow.”  
“It won’t be that late because half of us have work in the morning anyway. Come by the studio.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. The guys said it’s fine. Bring your stuff, hang out and we’ll go straight back to Cath’s afterwards.”  
“Won’t I be in the way?”  
“There’s over a dozen people here already and tons of room. It’ll be fine.”  
“Will we be able to go get dinner sometime?”  
“They’re studio musicians, not starving musicians. We’re getting food in later.”  
“All right. Okay.”  
“I’ll text you the address in a minute. My car’s parked out front so leave your bag in the boot. There’s an intercom by the front door. Tell them you’re Kayleigh and you’re there to watch band practice in Studio C. They’ll buzz you in.”  
“Okay.”  
“Great. See you soon.”

********************

Three pm, “Plugs Out” studio

Kayleigh pressed the intercom button, thankful the studio doorway was under cover.  
“Hello? Can I help you?”  
“Hiya. My name is Kayleigh. I’m here for the band practice in Studio C.”

There was a pause. “Yep, you’re on our list. Can you wait about thirty seconds, please?”  
The line clicked off before Kayleigh could answer, so she was left to watch the traffic going past.

A crackle from the speaker got her attention. “Hello? Can you look up and to your right please? At the security camera.”  
There was a different, familiar voice. “Yeah, that’s her. Hi Kayleigh. It’s Jim here.”  
“Hi Jim. How are you?”  
“Very well, thank you.” There was a loud CLUNK and the main door opened a crack. “Come through but stay by the door. I’ll come get you. It’s a bit of a maze in here, you see.”  
“Got it. Thanks.”

Kayleigh waited for less than a minute before Jim appeared from around the corner. “Hi again,” he said. “You all right? And Merry Christmas.”  
“I’m great, thanks. And Merry Christmas to you too.”

He led Kayleigh around the corner to a small lobby with the main shuttered reception desk on one side and two lifts on the other. “They have a rule that says visitors have to be on a list plus be visually ID’d by someone before they get let in in the weekends,” said Jim as he summoned a lift. “And John’s busy with Helena so I left him to it to come get you.”  
“Who’s Helena?” asked Kayleigh casually.  
“She plays keyboards. She and John will be both playing keys at the gig. They’re working out the setups and thinking about who should play what.”

Jim led her out of the lift, through various third-floor corridors to the ordinary-looking door marked “Studio C” through which they could hear music. Jim opened it for her, saying “It’s not flash but it’s comfy.”

They went through into an open area with chairs and old sofas off to one side, some of which were occupied by what looked like family members of the musicians. The open double-doors gave them a clear view into the studio itself, in which Kayleigh could see that John was having a hands-based discussion with a short brunette. To the right was an all-glass door, through which Kayleigh could see what looked like racks of stereos.  
“That’s the control room,” said Jim, following her gaze. “All the recording and playback equipment is in there. Through those doors is the main studio, and back there,” - he pointed to their left - “is the kitchen. Help yourself to tea and whatever. First, though, let me introduce you to everyone...”

As the afternoon went on Kayleigh noted another aspect about John: just how well he could get along with pretty-much any group of people. At the various Partners’ lunches in Area office he’d easily fit in with his team mates and peers, while here - even as an outsider - his background and competence as a musician meant he fit in with the group with relative ease.  
The fact that he and Jim were current performers was a definite benefit. Together with the bassist (Charlie, who Kayleigh noted had blue streaks through her now-black hair), they were able to share some “stage craft” as Jim described it, showing the others - who were essentially session musicians - that there was more to performing on stage as part of a band than just playing the instruments. That having fun was a big part of it.

It was a casual query by Adam as everyone cleared away the pizza boxes that took the day to another level:  
“Should we just play the set, see how it goes?”  
It had prompted the group to drag the chairs and sofas into the main studio. Once the families and hangers-on had made themselves comfortable and the band members had taken their positions, lead-singer Guy stepped up to the microphone and said his soon-to-be-familiar refrain:  
“Here’s one you might know...”

For Kayleigh it was like a return to her younger years when a night out might include drinks and dancing to a live band while dutifully hanging off the arm of her latest boyfriend, a boyfriend who was equally likely to use or ignore her afterwards.  
Except now she was in a clean music studio rather than some dive with a sticky floor, the drinks were bottled beers rather than tasteless brown filth, her boyfriend had made every effort to talk to her during the afternoon and he was himself playing among musicians with obvious musical ability.

For a moment she felt genuinely envious of Cath, of how she had been part of John’s life for over twelve years already, all those experiences they would have shared while she was putting up with a string of...

“Forget about them,” she thought. “He’s mine now.”

********************

Nine-fifteen pm, Cath Hilton’s house

“Are you not going to sit with me?”  
“In a bit. Want to get everything ready for the morning.”  
“I did offer to help.”  
“I’m not having you iron my shirt. And it’s not going to take long. I’ll be back once everything’s sorted.”

John was back after fifteen minutes, having sorted his work-clothes and lunch for the next day and spoken with the duty manager at the store. “Budge up.”  
Kayleigh swung her legs up onto the sofa and leaned back against John.  
“I had my phone out while you were playing that second run-through. Want to see it?”  
“No. No, no, no. I don’t need to see how badly I played today. Don’t need that. Show me something good. Show me… show me everything you got from yesterday. The wedding and reception. All of it. Show me what I missed.”  
They copied the photos and videos to John’s phone then Kayleigh used them to talk John through her day, noting that his smile was broadest at the times when Donna seemed happiest. When she was done he sat quietly.  
“What are you thinking?”  
“I’m thinking I need to practise more.” He looked at the clock on the stereo and groaned. “But not tonight. Bed.”  
“Okay.” She took his hand. “Come on.”  
“You go first. I’m going to watch the ceremony again.”  
“Huh?”  
“Since you’ll be at least fifteen minutes in the bathroom.”  
She playfully swiped his arm. “Cheeky...”

John started the video, skipping past the initial chatter to the ceremony itself, then through to the speeches at the reception. Smiled as Muffin crawled onto his lap and started rubbing her face against his phone. Smiled sadly as he remembered some of the laughs he and Lily had shared in his earliest days in the store.  
Remembered the quiet chat he’d had with Donna and Rick. How he’d spoken to them in the way a kindly uncle might. How he’d reminded them that the wedding invites started with “Mr and Mrs Rafft invite you to join us to celebrate the marriage of their daughter...” despite Joe having never remarried after Lily died. Hinted that honouring the memory of her mother could be an incredibly powerful part of their day.

He knew about the work-pool to guess the song for their first dance. Thought the newlyweds’ likely choice was tacky so had “steered” Donna’s thinking towards her Mum’s favourite song by humming a few notes of it each time he was near her in the store.

But John hadn’t joined the work-pool himself. Since their unexpected first-dance song was going to prompt discussion around the store, best that it not be obvious that he’d profited from it.  
It was a pity in retrospect. It would have been the easiest sixty quid he’d have ever made.


End file.
